Overview

Winner of the 2023 Florida Book Award Bronze Medal For fans of Women in White Coats and The Woman They Could Not Silence comes the never-before-told story of a woman who moved mountains for medical research and human health ""Lasker, very often the only woman in the room, comes to life--her smarts, power, money, discipline and work ethic producing some of the most important achievements in funding for medical research of the 20th century.""-Julia Sweig,New York Timesbestselling author ofLady Bird Johnson Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the ""American Nobels,"" these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers' next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944. But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. ""I'm just a catalytic agent,"" she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act. This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in research laboratories and the halls of Congresswere anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well-fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.

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Reviews

Mary Lasker's indomitable personality leaps off the pages of this book. The story of this resilient 'citizen lobbyist' captures her altruism, dedication and persistence, as it chronicles her life-long campaign to relieve suffering and cure disease. Empathetic to the pain endured by others and steadfast in overcoming obstacles in her own life, Mary used myriad tools - from high-society dinner parties that mingled politicians and scientists to powerhouse meetings with White House and Congressional leaders that combined well-documented evidence with charming engagement-to bolster medical research funding and create a scientific powerhouse at the NIH that continues to lead the world in identifying breakthrough medical therapies. Her call to action, 'If you think research is expensive....try disease' is as true today as ever and should rally us all to take up her crusade to increase funding for medical research and thus move us closer to her goal to 'heal America'. --Claire Pomeroy, President, Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation

Author Information

Judith Pearsonis the award-winning author of three previous books: The Wolves at the Door, Belly of the Beast, and From Shadows to Life, which won the 2022 Nautilus Gold Award. A graduate of Michigan State University, Pearson and her husband divide their days between mountains and beaches.

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